Murphy's Law is Alive and Very Well In Case Anyone Is Wondering

People love this for selfies.

I have always liked carnivals.

In a normal day, I drive the three-tenths  of a mile from my place to the front gate, make my turn onto the street and away I go. Three-tenths, mine you. It's 1.8 miles to the drugstore. If you take that .3 tenths out of that, it's 1.5 miles to the drugstore. That's where it all started. 1.5 out the gate. What can go wrong in such a short distance?

While I was out, I got a call from the drug store that my scripts were ready for pickup. First, the prescriptions had been on hold  since my doctor's visit on Monday. The drug store was out of stock and were ordering it. The web site said, "no action on your part needed." No action except for me to pay for it when I picked it up. Psychologically, they would never do that because it would be bad for business. Psychologically. After I got my long awaited scripts, I swung by the candy counter. A new girl was in the middle of the isle all sprawled out with a box that was higher than her arms so when she reached into the box, she had to lift up and over the side of the box. In short, the poor girl was not to organized. She ask if there was anything she could help me with. I just made a comment that Kroger's had Snickers for $0.69 and she had Milky Ways for $0.69  and I found that amusing. Two of the most popular candy bars in America and one is 2/$2.00 and one is $0.69 ...the exact opposite  of each other. Well, she flew off the handle and said to me with an irritated tone that she couldn't be concerned with what Kroger's did. I walked out of the isle and headed for the front door. The lady at the front who is always friendly ask what was the matter? I said to her that it wasn't a big deal. She frowned and I quickly said that the girl in the candy isle couldn't be concerned about Kroger's and I said that I can't be concerned with her attitude and I'm going to Kroger's to get my snicker bar. She laughed as she always does.

Now, the thing is, from the drug store to Kroger's parking lot it's 2.5 tenths of a mile. I went into Kroger's, got a fresh head of lettuce and walked over to the display where the hidden specials are displayed. The sign said:

Fresh food. Low prices.

Hershey's Candy

Buy 1, Get 1

FREE

1.45 oz.

Selected Varieties, 1.3-2

5 oz -with card-

save up to 99 cents

expiration date 8/16/2017

So, I got a 3 Musketeer and a Hershey's with almonds. And headed to the check out. Usually I use the self-checkouts but they were lined up and I went down the line to an open register. The lady moves in one speed--slow motion. I knew that. It's okay. Things like that do not bother me. 

She rang up the items. I said that  the lettuce was $0.99 and  candy bars were  2/$1.00. Why was my bill $3. She looked at the candy in the rack across from her check out which were market 2/$2.00. I mentioned to her that the "hidden special rack" has a sign buy one get one and it was marked 2/1,00. She wanted to argue. I put the candy bars back on her counter and said that I did not want them. 

While she was doing that, I walked to the other end got the sign and brought it back up to her register. She was still working on the removal of the two items. When she was done, I showed her the sign and ask her what did it say? She replied, looking at the regular rack 2/$2.00. I'm a bit frustrated at this point. I took the bag with head lettuce and my new receipt and walked over two registers to where "Eddie" was working. He normally is in customer service and I said," did you hear that?"... he laughed and said," yes, I did!"  Still laughing, I said to 'Eddie', "see you next trip." "Have a better day!!!" I heard him say as I walked out. 

Now, from Kroger's to McDonald's, it's a drive of less than one-tenth of a mile across the parking lot..

All total, three tenths of a mile.....imagine that! Since I didn't get my candy, I hit the drive through window for an ice cream cone and a couple of burgers for dinner. Normally the drive-thru at this McDonald's is slow as honey. That day, I zipped right through the line, got the stuff and away I headed for home. Now, it's 1.5 miles from there, plus my 03-tenths past the gate up to my place. 

It was hot, Heat indexes were at 102 and no breeze. It felt like an oven. Earlier before the pharmacy, I had been shooting and it wasn't that bad. When I opened the door and felt the cool air, I knew that dinner was nearly ready and in a few, I'd be in my comfort cloths and ready to sit down and eat. 

I opened the bag and the first shock was that there was only one burger in the bag.I looked at the receipt and I had been charged for two and the ice cream cone. Having been one, two and three-ed  by my great little business strip so close to home, my frustration and what ever else seemed like a beating for just going into the businesses, I took the receipt and called the 800 number on the ticket after calling the regular store number printed on the ticked that was never answered. The guy was nice. He said that he would have the manager call me back within two hours. I ate my burger only to discover that the burger was not what I had ordered anyway.  After eating, my phone rang.  It was the manager from  McDonald's. She was, "very sorry" and said that I can come back over and she would make it right. I said to her, "Lady, I'm not going anywhere in this heat tonight". "I'll stop by tomorrow when I'm out". 

What are the odds of being one,two-ed and three-ed in three tenths of a mile?

Today, I got a late start and was a couple of miles from home when I realized  that I had left the ticket and code in the desk drawer for McDonald's, so I made the loop and came back home to get the blasted ticket and code. My entire thought process was so shot at this point with this heat, I made the loop the other way, and came into McDonalds from the back way. I got my ice cream cone again and the bag had two burgers like I had ordered. As I sat down to eat tonight, it occurred to me that this thing had been stretched out over two days. When I opened my evening pill case, the two pills that I take in the evening with my meal were still in the compartment. I had missed taking my second dose of meds in the evening yesterday. Never have I don't that before. I always take my meds as scheduled. So if you add those to things to the other three, I had a nickles worth of frustration. I don't even want tell you about what one of my editors did. At least, while that was happening, I saw two sales take place. All in a days work! Don't  you see.

Heading Toward Green

Valentine's Day with Cupid as its mascot has done its fly-by for this year. It now swings out into space on its way around the calendar orbit toward 2016 and its return. Fat Tuesday, Carnival or Mardi Gras, comes screeching  to a halt  at midnight to anything goes partying for another year. Already the multi-colored plastic eggs,  fake green grass, baskets and white stuffed bunnies are beginning to appear in the stores. It's another endless cycle in the marketing, advertising, and retail commerce world and I thought steel mill rolling schedules were odd in size rotations to even more odd when customers and billet stockpiles rearrange themselves almost over night.

 Besides, it's getting close to ice cream season. It was 78-degrees F on Saturday and I had to fight the steering wheel in the car as I drove by the two  neighborhood Braum Ice Cream stores on the way home. And Bill Gates said he is worried about machines taken over. I wonder if his car gets strong-headed in Redmond around ice cream stores? When I was a kid, my grandfather would take me in his wagon to the back of his farm when he missed a cow during  calving season. Never once, did I see him touch the reins on that wagon. All he did was to talk to his team of horses and they took us right back to the barn. Maybe my car already knows that Braum's is the place for ice cream runs. I should try that with my car when I'm out during ice cream runs this year. I'll get back with you on that.

That 78-degrees of yesterday is sinking pretty fast tonight as two separate cold fronts are bringing snow and ice dangerously close to me both tonight and tomorrow and Tuesday. While I still like snow, I don't like ice here in Texas. The thing about ice is that it takes down big trees and when they fall, they fall on power-lines and that takes out electricity. I heat with electricity, not gas. When you hear ice-talk here generally, people don't like to drive on ice. I'm pretty cool with driving on ice and snow has never been a problem. But, not having any heat becomes a health issue and that worries me. So I'm thinking about talking dance lessons on line to learn how to ward off the ice. It sure does not work for rain. Hopefully, it works for ice.

A long time ago, I was scheduled to fly out of Atlanta one morning for High Point, North Carolina. The problem that morning was that Hickory, North Carolina had gotten 2-inches of ice over night and nothing was going north that early morning." Maybe by 10", the airlines said. They were working on it. Long story short, they found a 4-prop that, " could probably get out of Hickory" one of the ticket agents said. "They will pick us up and take us back to High Point'', the agent again responded. The old plane had the familiar markings of Piedmont Airlines, the forerunner of US Air. First time I ever had to chip an inch of ice off a rental car,too, but I got to High Point that same day. I'm so glad that I don't have to do things like that any more. As it turned out, that plane in Hickory was a re-schedule of equipment. If that plane had not been in Hickory for what ever reason, I would have had to redo my entire schedule for that east coast run. I guess it was about then that I started not to like ice storms.

So, if I get a good report from the cardio guy that is coming up,clearing the way to St. Patty's Day weekend, I'll be a happy Irishman for sure. Don't need a dance for that one......we've got a few stored up for that weekend come rain or come shine.

Lower Greenville Avenue is one of the three largest parade routes in the US on St. Patrick's Day.

Encyclopedias, Compendiums, Complete Compendiums and Manuals on Fat Tuesday

Even though it will vary from year-to-year, it still has a way of sneaking up on you. But I have discovered a way to "not be so surprised". It's a lunar thing, basically. Or, at the least, follows a lunar calendar. It's still got that little Pagenistic twang to it, left over from the Romans invading the Celts and tearing down their alters and having the Celts build Roman alters. Of course, the Celts were really smart and built the Roman alters over their old torn down alters and went on like nothing ever happened.The Romans being non-the-wiser. There has been encyclopedias, compendiums, complete compendiums and manuals written about Mardi Gras.

It seems that the church calendar year is really tied to lunar cycles more than we think, but the one that resonates with many throughout the Christian world seems to be the one I can never remember.
That would be, of course, Fat Tuesday, Shove Tuesday or as the French still say today, Mardi Gras, which literally means, "Fat Tuesday".  It is, in fact, a 47 day stretch before Easter Sunday and since Easter is determined by--you got it-- lunar cycles, that is why the date moves forward or backwards from year-to-year.  As another indication of lunar cycles, Epiphany is the earliest that Carnival, Mardi Gras can occur and it must end by midnight on Fat Tuesday as Ash Wednesday begins Lent, the period of fasting before Easter.

Of course, it is highly ordained as a cultural event because Mardi Gras is the period when all the fat things and crazy things are done before confession or Shovetide or Shove Tuesday. Therefore, in various regions, celebrations will vary and the traditional celebrations will most always include a "King's Cake".

A couple of days ago I was in my friendly K-roger store and as I walked past the bakery tables, there were stacks and stacks of big colorful boxes of iced and sparkled King Cakes. The cakes only come out this time of year. The little plastic baby Jesus if usually hidden in the cake, but in today's age of  what ever it is--- the little baby Jesus is on top in plain sight so as not to offend or to cause a chocking hazard. Frankly, it was better when you grew up and you parents talked to you from early on about finding the baby Jesus in the cake and to be careful. Of course, that common sense thing does not exist today in parenting, Which I find to be so sad.

Mardi Gras Beads thrown on February 17th in 2015. 2016 will be on February 9th and 2017 will be on February 28th